Articles of the Constitution

When it was written in 1787, the Constitution had a preamble and seven main parts, called articles.

Preamble

The Preamble states:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Preamble is not a law. It gives the reasons for writing the Constitution. The Preamble is one of the best known parts of the Constitution. The first three words, "We the people," are used very often. The six intentions that are listed are the goals of the constitution.

The House of Representatives has members elected by the people in each state. The number of members from each state depends on how many people live there. Each member of the House of Representatives is elected for two years.

The Senate has two members, called Senators, from each state, no matter how many people live there. Each Senator is elected for six years. The original Constitution allowed the state legislatures to choose the Senators, but this was changed later by the seventeenth amendment.

Article One also says how the Congress will do its business and what kinds of laws it can make. It lists some kinds of laws the Congress and the states cannot make. Article One also makes rules for Congress to impeach and remove from office the President, Vice President, judges, and other government officers.

Executive power

Article Two says that the President (the executive branch) will carry out the laws made by Congress. This article says how the President and Vice President are elected, and who can be elected to these offices. The President and Vice President are elected by a special Electoral College chosen by the states, for four years. The Vice President takes over as President if the President dies, or resigns, or is unable to serve. Article Two also says that the President is in charge of the army and navy. He can make treaties with other countries, but these must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate. He appoints judges, ambassadors, and other officers, but the Senate also must approve these appointments. The President can also veto bills. However, Congress can override the veto.

Judicial power

Article Three says there will be a court system (the judicial branch), including the Supreme Court. The article says that Congress can decide which courts, besides the Supreme Court, are needed. It says what kinds of "cases and controversies" these courts can decide. Article Three also requires trial by jury in all criminal cases, and defines the crime of treason.

States' powers and limits

Article Four is about the states. It says that all states must give "full faith and credit" to the laws of the other states. It also says that state governments must treat citizens of other states as fairly as they treat their own citizens, and must send arrested people back to another state if they have been charged with a crime.

Article Four also says that Congress can make new states. There were only 13 states in 1787. Now there are 50 United States. It says Congress can make rules for Federal property and can govern territories that have not yet been made into states. Article Four says the United States must make sure that each state has a republican form of government, and protect the states from invasion and violence.

Process of amendment

Article Five gives two ways to amend, or change, the Constitution.

Congress can write a change, if two-thirds of the members in each House agree.

The state governments can call a convention to write changes, although this has not happened since 1787.

Any change that is written by Congress or by a convention must be sent to the state legislatures or to state conventions for their approval. Congress decides whether to send a change to the legislatures or to conventions. Three-fourths of the states must approve a change for it to become part of the Constitution.

An amendment can change any part of the Constitution, except one—no amendment can change the rule that each state has equal suffrage (right to vote) in the Senate.

Federal power

Article Six says that the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the United States, are higher than any other laws. It also says that all federal and state officers must swear to "support" the Constitution.

Ratification

Article Seven says that the new government under the Constitution would not start until conventions in at least nine states approved the Constitution.

Amendments

Since 1787, Congress has written 33 amendments to change the Constitution, but the states have ratified only 27 of them.

The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. They were made in 1791. All of these changes limited the power of the federal government. They were:

"A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." - People have the right to keep and carry weapons, for example, guns.

The government cannot put a person on trial for a seriouscrime until a grand jury has written an indictment. That a person cannot be put on trial twice for the same crime. The government must follow due process of law before punishing a person or taking their property. A person on trial for a crime does not have to testify against himself in court.

Any person who is accused of a crime should get a speedy trial by a jury. That person can have a lawyer during the trial. They must be told what they are charged with. The person can question the witnesses against them, and can get their own witnesses to testify.

References

Bailyn, Bernard, ed. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle for Ratification. Part One: September 1787 to February 1788 (The Library of America, 1993) ISBN 0-940450-42-9

Bailyn, Bernard, ed. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle for Ratification. Part Two: January to August 1788 (The Library of America, 1993) ISBN 0-940450-64-X

Edling, Max M. (2003). A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U.S. Constitution and the Making of the American State. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-514870-3

Finkelman, Paul "Affirmative Action for the Master Class: The Creation of the Proslavery Constitution," University of Akron Law Review 32 (No. 3, 1999): 423-70.

Finkelman, Paul Slavery and the Founders: Race and Slavery in the Age of Jefferson (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996);

Finkelman, Paul "Slavery and the Constitution: Making a Covenant with Death," in Richard R. Beeman, Stephen Botein, and Edward C., Carter, II, eds., Beyond Confederation: Origins of the Constitution and American National Identity (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987);

Smith, Jean Edward (1989). The Constitution And American Foreign Policy. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.

Wiecek, William M., "The Witch at the Christening: Slavery and the Constitution's Origins," Leonard W. Levy and Dennis J. Mahoney, eds., The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 178-84.

Wiecek, William M., "'The Blessings of Liberty': Slavery in the American Constitutional Order," in Robert A. Goldman and Art Kaufman, eds., Slavery and Its Consequences: The Constitution, Equality, and Race (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1988), 23-34.

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